Podcasting

    

      I found a podcast called  Failing a Driving Test at ESL Pod.  I choose this podcast since the topic is very useful for English intermediate learners, especially, for the students who study in America. It is very common to drive in America. So when international students first came to America, they would practice driving and apply for the driving license as soon as possible.

However, when you take the test, the examiner will demand you to do certain driving in English. Therefore, it is very important to learn some terminologies of driving in English. On this dialogue there are a lot of good examples. For instance, the examiner told me to back off because I was tailgating the car in front of me. When I accelerated, I ground my gears and raced the engine. The car jerked so hard that the examiner nearly fell off her seat. I failed to stop at a traffic light and changed lanes in the intersection without signaling. The highlight parts are all the terminologies which are important for test takers to learn. Another thing I like this website's podcast is that this website is aimed to help  learners who regard English as a second language. So there are a lot of instructions on English after the dialogues. They always teach students how to use English phrases, how to choose appropriate words according to context and even some slangs. 

     Therefore, I will keep on using ESL Pod as a useful resource to assist my English teaching. I hope the podcasts I found can be practical and helpful for my students not only on academic but also in daily life. So I will keep on finding podcasts like I mentioned on this blog in my future teaching. I will also ask students to find their favorite podcast by themselves and listen to them as after class activities or holiday assignments.

Pei's Stupeflix videos

PHOTO STORIES.

   

     I like to use Stupeflix, here is the link of my own photo stories. They are on my next blog. I hope through my photo stories, my students can realize they can use their own photos to tell a story. I create a Christmas video because I want to learn some relative words for Christmas, like wrath and reindeer. So students can also create a video to help themselves learn new knowledge.

     I still appreciate of their photo stories because these stories are unique. I assess their creations through grammar, words they chose and spelling. If they can create photo stories by using the grammar and vocabulary we have learned recently, I will give them extra credits.

Comic strip generators

 

     I really love Strip Generator, here is the link of my own strip. The reason I love it is that students can create a number of scenes through the funny and cute cartoon figures. Through their dialogues students could feel free to express feelings and opinions and tell others what has happened recently just as the strip I demonstrate. Students can also create their own dialogues based on the topics they are interested in. There is no limited topic so that students can fully practice writing and speaking skills according to their own topics.

     I will appreciate of their unique dialogues.  In other words, I will not assess their topics and opinions. I will put more focus on their grammar and the words they chose to assess their creations.

My language learning goals

     

      I am also a second language learner.  So I remembered when I prepared my TOFEL, the most simple part I could improve is reading. With more intensive practice, mastering more words and exposing myself at English contexts, my listening gradually got improved. Then the most difficult parts are speaking and writing. It really took time and efforts to improve them. Nowadays, my second language learning goals are more focused on writing formal and accurate papers and speaking like a native speaker.

    

     So I create this tiny Ted lesson  based on the video: the benefits of a bilingual brain for intermediate and upper intermediate students. I hope they can train their listening and at the same time enhance comprehension through this Ted lesson. The questions I designed are all based on the video. Therefore, as long as they listen carefully and make notes, they all can get correct answers. The discussion question is aimed to improve their writing based on their own experience and opinions. So there is no standard answer. I hope students can engage in learning and speak out. Another reason I choose this video as a part of my teaching is to encourage students no matter how old they are to learn another language. Since learning Multi-languages is beneficial for their brain's health, concentration on tasks, improving memory, switching between tasks and improving cognitive skills. It is true that it is easy for children to learn a new language but adults can still get it through appropriate instructions. Moreover, this video is very visual by showing the differences between bilingual brain and monolingual brain. I found multi-media instruction is much better than teachers just sit in the front using blackboard to teach.  So I will use more Ted lessons in my future teaching. The extra links I provide are both relevant to the benefits of bilingual brain. There are other benefits which don't be mentioned on the video. There are also a lot of interesting stories, facts and experiments to prove that there are a lot of advantages on learning multi-languages. I hope my students can improve their second language step by step in an interesting and engaging learning environment. Also, they can learn something realistic and relevant to life and career. I can also learn a lot from their participation in discussions. I hope everyone can contribute their opinions and have more interests and motivations on learning a second language. 

Rationale for Flipping Your Classes

THREE REASONS TO FLIP YOUR CLASSROOM

     In this article the author summarized that there are three potential benefits for Els. The flipping classroom increases comprehension of materials, increases interaction with instructor and peers and increases critical thinking as a natural part of the learning process. 
     Increases comprehension of materials: Students watch the instructions at home. They can make notes according to their pace, therefore they can better understand the materials. Moreover, teachers provide scaffolding for the new content and language.
      Increases interaction with instructor and peers: Since students have watched the instructions at home, teacher can create more activities in the class to practice. Consequently, the class form shift from teacher-centered to students-centered. Students have more opportunities to apply what they have learned at home with peers and interact with instructors.
      Increases critical thinking as a natural part of the learning process: "Flipped learning gives ELs the opportunity to participate at their cognitive level, so that they are more likely to reach their academic potential."
     I also like The Flipped Learning Cycle for Els in this article. To implement effective flipped learning for ELs, instructors follow a learning cycle: (1) instructional videos; (2) in-class collaboration; and (3) observation-feedback-assessment. It better explains how the flipping classrooms work.

Flipping Your EL Classroom: A Primer

     I have the same feeling as the article mentioned. I am very careful to listen to teachers and I am very clear about the instruction, however, when I do the homework I cannot apply what I have learned in the class into my homework; especially on my maths learning. I feel I am super stupid and lose motivations on study. 

     However, I am so glad the flipping classrooms change this scenario by bringing homework into class time. "The classroom activities challenge learners to apply the information and instruction from the videos. The activities may elicit the misunderstandings, they may take the students deeper into the subject, and they should provide students with opportunities to learn or relearn the elements of the lessons that they find difficult." I agree with this idea. I feel it is so important to put knowledge into practice rather than just to pass exam. By learning by themselves at home, students have their own questions on the instructions. They will bring them to the class to discuss and learn from classmates and instructors. At the same time, teachers can be observers to figure out students' questions and misunderstandings so that teachers can further assist students. Consequently, students have better understanding on what they have learned and more likely to engage in class discussion and contribute their opinions.

Chat on Twitter

   

     I joined ELTchat on Wednesday. It discussed ways to help our learners record new vocabulary in the classroom. I like this topic since when you learn a new language, vocabulary is the foundation. However, students feel headache and bored when they memorize new words.    

      I agree with some teachers' opinions that students are given little vocabulary books in which they record new stuff in, but she is unsure how much they learn from that. Some teachers also notice that learners make endless lists of random words or phrases that they never actually use. She give an example of a student who spend ages looking for a word she had noted down but could not recall. Honestly, I have the same experience when I was in middle school and high school. I wrote down every new word I learned everyday. However, when I reviewed them, I could just recall 30 to 40 percent of them. With time passing by, I realize that I don't need to memorize all of the vocabularies which I encounter, especially at the beginning learning stage. Since some words are seldom used in daily life and academics. So now I will suggest my friends who just came to America with low English level to remember the words from daily conversation and put them into context and practice.  I also learned a lot of new and useful tools and apps to record and organize new words from this chat like Quizelet, Kahoot, Plickers and Memrise. 

     Another thing I like ELTchat is that I feel I am a part of this community since every Saturday, one of the moderators will put up a blog post on the #ELTchat Blog asking teachers who follow #ELTchat to propose some topics for the next chats. Then people can go to the post and suggest topics in the comments. On Sunday evening, the moderators turn that into an online poll and everyone can vote on the website until Wednesday morning. The top two become this weeks #ELTChat. Maybe someday people will discuss the topic which I suggest. However, I feel the topics discussed on ELTchat are very helpful and practical for teachers. I can always update my thoughts and learn a lot from people at the same field as mine from ELTchat.

The potential of Twitter in education

    

      In the article Teachers take to Twitter, it points out that "Google is a powerful search engine, but it’s not nuanced the way Twitter is. Since searching Twitter is searching the minds of teachers. It’s collective intelligence." I agree with it since I seldom find articles which are relevant to my academic assignments and research papers. However, Twitter networks provide targeted feedback and resources from peers or a professional network of colleagues all over the globe that other Internet tools like Google and message boards cannot match.       
     Therefore, for myself I will use Twitter as an important tool to learn and teach. Beyond using it for lessons, I can trade ideas and insights regarding social networking in the classroom with like-minded professionals and other topics. The most important thing is that Twitter provides links from source which I can trust. I will also use Twitter in my future teaching to both my students and parents. For example, Parents who are interested in daily classroom activities can follow teacher tweets discussing some of the lessons learned and any progress on projects with one quick and handy trip to a dedicated Twitter feed. Students can leave questions that they didn't ask in the class on the Twitter. Other students can also help me to answer them. I can retweet articles, new stories and opinions relevant to a specific class as an excellent, convenient supplement to classroom lectures. So my students can well prepared before class and further learn according to their interests after my instructions.   
    In the article Teaching Twitter :The History of the Present. It points out that "Twitter is described frequently as a microblogging web site, which can also be accessed through internet-ready smart phones. " Therefore, I can keep in touch with my students anywhere and anytime and they can get my messages immediately. For example, if I need them to to read a useful link which I read just now before today's reading class, they can read it as soon as possible. Students can learn what is happening and search for relevant articles and answers on Twitter anywhere and anytime through smart phones.  However, Twitter still has its limitation. Twitter is blocked in China. I believe Twitter is also blocked in some other countries. Therefore, not every educator and students can benefit from Twitter. But I hope some day people from all over the world can use this helpful tool in their daily life.